On That Note

In the final semester of my undergraduate "career," the demands of things other than The Daily Serge have taken their toll on my ability to post, as has been made clear with the ceasing of "On That Note" posts in the last month or so. Considering that I am sitting in the middle of a really intense low pressure storm system, I have plenty of time to bring you up to tempo today.

U2 is arguably one of the greatest bands since the 80s, if not all time. Naturally all of the band's singles are proofs of this, but while watching Morning Joe transition to commercial at one point in the show this morning, it dawned on me that the band's second single is especially supportive of this position, since they used the opening instrumental segment as a fade out. A few Eggo waffles later, I found myself buried in Safari and iTunes pulling up pages of U2's discography in the attempt to find the song. I had heard it before, but didn't know the name. Finally, sampling "I Will Follow" ended my journey.

It is often said that how one starts determines how one will finish. Without getting too philosophical, since most don't really like to discuss things that actually matter, I will state this to be true of U2. Although only topping at 20 on the US Billboard chart, the first track of their debut album Boy, "I Will Follow" set the tone for the rest of their musical production and image with a guitar sound unique to themselves and a somewhat spiritual title and theme of unconditional love, as came to be the case in many other titles and lyrical themes of songs. This began the trend in which many would come to view the band as more than a rock band, but as somewhat of a spiritual humanitarian organization. This of course has become more of a reality in their later years, but it no doubt started somewhere.

The passion of any band in its youth, fused with the talent and charisma of the members of U2 and the beginning of the bridging in genre from post-punk to alternative (or whatever you would classify U2 as?), this early hit is sure to catch the ears of any rock fan with its upbeat tempo, unorthodoxically technique in the guitar, supportive bass line, and the vocals of Bono in the manifestation of music that is "I Will Follow."